A new report from New American Economy (NAE), produced in partnership with the Chicago Mayor’s Office of New Americans, revealed that immigrants represented 36 percent of Chicago’s entrepreneurs and generated $659 million in business income in 2016.
The report also shows that immigrants also held nearly a quarter of the spending power among the city’s residents, earned nearly $17 billion in household income and paid $6 billion in taxes in 2016. The report was released at a press conference with Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The 36 percent was achieved despite immigrants only composing 20.7 percent of the overall population.
Chicago is one of 44 communities selected for the Gateways for Growth Challenge, a competitive opportunity from New American Economy and Welcoming America where local communities receive tailored research on the contributions of immigrants, direct technical assistance to develop multi-sector plans for welcoming and integrating immigrants, or matching grants.
The full NAE Cities Index is at http://NAECitiesIndex.org. More about Chicago’s numbers can be found at http://research.newamericaneconomy.org/report/new-americans-in-chicago/.